REDWOOD CITY — Two California Highway Patrol officers were sent to a hospital Thursday morning with minor injuries following a solo-vehicle crash on Highway 101, according to authorities.

The officers are expected to be OK, according to the CHP.

The crash happened at 3:02 a.m. on southbound 101 between Woodside Road and Whipple Avenue. The officers were in a marked patrol car and travelling south on 101 to assist another unit on a stop when the driver lost control and crashed into the center divide, according to CHP Officer Art Montiel.

Both officers were extricated from the car and taken to Stanford with minor injuries, Montiel said. At this point the CHP does not know how fast the officers were travelling, or what may have caused the driver to lose control.

Mark Gomez has worked for the Mercury News since 1992, including the past ten years as a reporter on the breaking news/public safety team. He is a South Bay native and graduate of San Jose State University.

In addition to evacuating 10 neighboring homes, deputies restricted pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the area while the sheriff's office bomb squad "safely disposed" of the explosives, officials said.